[Milsurplus] Converting war surplus radios for use on commercial fishing vessels. Scandanavian style.

[Boeing377]

Wonder what surplus radio gear they were converting in Norway in 1946?

>From SIMRAD web site. SIMRAD is a big name in commercial marine electronics.  http://www.simrad-yachting.com/About-us/

It begins in 1946 when Thorleif Robertson, the founder of auto-steering in Egersund, started out converting war surplus radios for use on fishing vessels, as did Willy Simonsen in Oslo the following year, naming his company Simonsen Radio, which later became Simrad. Robertson went on to develop echosounders and the world’s first civil sonars, and these commercial fishery product ranges continue to be sold by the Kongsberg group. By 1948 his company had progressed to manufacturing its own transceivers, radio compasses and course calculators. With fishing fleets very much in mind, the first autopilot was developed in 1951 with three Egersund fishing boats receiving the first AP1 autopilots, and these soon gained favour with the rest of the fleet earning the nick-name ‘Helmsman Robertsons’, as the AP1 meant that crewmembers no longer had to spend long hours standing at the wheel, hence its massive popularity.

73,
Mark
AF6IM